Those Germans!

Gina and Mandy are right.

This is my mom's mom.

My grandma!

All growing up she and my grandpa lived

just a few stairs above us.

You know -

a 5-story house:

Attic (my little kingdom)

Grandparents

My family

Italian family (renters)

Basement

Oh. Wait. Americans don't live like that.

At least not in the West.

It's really too bad.

I loved having my grandparents so close.

Didn't like what's for dinner?

Let's see what Oma is cooking.

Out of eggs?

No problem.

Not allowed to watch TV?

I think I'll visit Oma and Opa.

Busted the glass front door?

Let's hide under their kitchen table.

They took us swimming almost every Saturday.

We spent countless hours hiking with them.

We went on vacation with them and took ski lessons.

Great memories!

Unfortunately, we were not able to make it

to Oma's eightieth birthday celebration.

But I can tell that they had a ton of fun without us!

There was, as usual, a self-composed song about Oma.

aunts, cousins, sister, niece, mom

My family modeling off some of Oma's knitted treasures.

This is only a small part of all the clothes/accessories

we all received over the years.

looks like Lynn needs some cousins to play with

There was, of course, lots of laughter and smiles.

aunt and uncle

And dancing.

This would be my parents showing off their moves.

Not sure how it all went down

but I am certain the party started in the early afternoon

and went well past midnight.

I am speaking from experience.

My dad and his 2 nieces.

He cracks me up!

Looks like one proud uncle!

We are looking forward to visiting Germany

next summer and can't wait to see everyone!